Ghost faculty: Anna University directs monthly biometric authentication
The instruction came after Arappor Iyakkam exposed the presence of ghost faculty in July 2024, unearthing documents to show how hundreds of faculty members were found to be in the payrolls of multiple colleges.
CHENNAI: Anna University has directed all affiliated institutions to submit the details of faculty members and carry out Aadhaar-based biometric authentication of the existing teaching staff with unique ID every month.
The instruction came after Arappor Iyakkam exposed the presence of ghost faculty in July 2024, unearthing documents to show how hundreds of faculty members were found to be in the payrolls of multiple colleges.
As per the notification that the Registrar sent to all principals and affiliated institutions, the verification and validation of faculty members are mandatory.
As part of this, principals should submit faculty details to the university and process Aadhaar-based biometric authentication of existing faculty members with unique IDs at all affiliated colleges every month.
As the scam broke out, the university inspected 420 engineering colleges in April and May before granting recognition for the affiliated institutions in the 2025-26 academic year. Welcoming this, the Arappor Iyakkam submitted a set of demands to the university, the Higher Education Minister, and the department secretary P Shankar.
The demands included disclosing the details of the shortcomings found in the colleges during the inspection by the committee, and reveal the college-wise deficiencies in professors, laboratory facilities, and infrastructure that were found during the recent Aadhaar-based biometric authentication of colleges.
Arappor also sought the release of the report of the fact-finding committee formed in July 2024 and to register a case against alleged fraudsters, including former Vice-Chancellor R Velraj.
